Paintball, the professional term being speedball, is a five vs. five sport where you are trying to hit the enemy players with your paint, and it splatter on them. You use what is called a paintball gun or marker for a more friendly term. The field you play on has as assortments of bunkers that come in all different shapes and sizes. They can range anywhere from a tiny cylinder, called a cake, to a giant box that is called a brick. All players start at the starting box with the tip of your barrel touching it. Once the buzzer sounds, it is go time. Players break out from the box and rush as fast as possible to the bunker you play to shoot a lane. Lanes are the visible points from a bunker you can see in front of you. The job is to put paint in a spot and keep it there so the enemy team can not move up.
Playing in a tournament with an ostomy bag is a bit different. Yes, you are still part of the team and have a job to do, but you must be careful. The paintballs fly through the air at three hundred feet per second, which is equivalent to two hundred and four miles per hour. If a ball hits your ostomy bag, there is a good chance your bag can rupture and leave discharge all over. Looking all over but it is hard to find something that can cover and keep the pouch safe. This will give you more confidence and reassure you that the bag will not burst. Unfortunately, it is hard to find something of the sort that works, so you keep risking it.
Walking onto the field, the refs check your gun speed and make sure you are not shooting too hot. After that, it’s time to line up on the box and get ready to break out. As the countdown buzzer starts, you count it in your head to get it just right. Ten, nine, eight… the buzzer sounds, and it is go time. You are a back player, so you rush to the tall can right in front of you and begin holding your lane. You hear your teammate right by you give the call that someone is moving up the right side, so you adjust your lane to keep him from progressing. Suddenly you feel pain in your side. Not sure what it was you quickly glance down to see you got hit, right on your bag. The realization sets in that your ostomy bag has just burst.
As you are walking off the field, you start to feel the fluids drip down and soak into your clothing. This is the worst-case scenario for you. No backup ostomy bag, with a heavy heart, tell your coach what happened and that you need to go back to the hotel for the day. Reluctantly he agrees but not without some words as you were doing the most for the team. Why didn’t you bring an extra bag?
Paintball is a fast-paced, high adrenaline sport. With an ostomy bag, you are limited to the length you can run and the slides you can do. The restrictions of an ostomy bag put a dampener on your abilities. It is dangerous to play in a paintball tournament but regardless, you still push through and have learned a valuable lesson. Bring an additional pouch with you to tournaments.
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